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Psychology

Essays and videos offering insights into the self, relationships, cognition and neuroscience

Addiction Ageing and death Childhood and adolescence Cognition and intelligence Consciousness and altered states Family life Gender and identity Language and linguistics Life stages Love and friendship Mental health Mood and emotion Neurodiversity Neuroscience Personality Pleasure and pain Psychiatry and psychotherapy Self-improvement Sex and sexuality Sleep and dreams Social psychology Spirituality Teaching and learning Technology and the self Wellbeing

Illustration of a child holding a shell to their ear with a bird singing on a branch amidst abstract greenery and flowers.

essay

Bioethics

The cochlear question

As the hearing parent of a deaf baby, I’m confronted with an agonising decision: should I give her an implant to help her hear?

Abi Stephenson

A man floating in the sea beneath a dramatic, stormy sky with large, dark clouds.

essay

Technology and the self

We need raw awe

In this tech-vexed age, our life on screens prevents us from experiencing the mysteries and transformative wonder of life

Kirk Schneider

A man views a holographic projection of a child in shorts running in a forest setting; office equipment surrounds him.

video

Technology and the self

A haunting scene from ‘Minority Report’ inspires a voyage into time and memory

7 minutes

Photo of a silver inflatable balloon floating in the sky over a blurred brownish background, resembling a flying saucer.

video

Information and communication

Coverage of the ‘balloon boy’ hoax forms a withering indictment of for-profit news

17 minutes

Photo of a person wearing large sunglasses with outdoor scenery reflected, resting their fingers on their chin in a thoughtful pose.

essay

Ethics

Main character syndrome

Why romanticising your own life is philosophically dubious, setting up toxic narratives and an inability to truly love

Anna Gotlib

Residential street with terraced houses and power plant cooling towers in the background, one of which has a mural depicting a sun and mountains.

video

Food and drink

Local tensions simmer amid a potato salad contest at the Czech-Polish border

14 minutes

A person with a prosthetic leg stands in a room filled with plastic-wrapped prosthetics and limbs, showcasing orthopaedic supplies.

video

Technology and the self

A filmmaker finds a tactile beauty in the creation of her prosthetic leg

11 minutes

Old photograph of a girl sleeping in a chair, a ghostly boy kneeling before her, and a ghostly girl standing by a wall with a religious tapestry.

video

Technology and the self

How the magic of photography brought Victorian England closer to the spirit realm

16 minutes

A young woman and a man, both dressed formally, sit at a table with an electronic device in front of them. The woman is engaging with the device, which has several buttons and dials, while the man observes attentively. The setting appears to be an office or classroom. The image is in black and white.

essay

Technology and the self

Tomorrow people

For the entire 20th century, it had felt like telepathy was just around the corner. Why is that especially true now?

Roger Luckhurst

A person and a dog look out from a window of a blue house during snowfall. The house has an external staircase covered with snow on the left, and a snow-covered porch on the right. The scene is set on a snowy day, with visible accumulation on the ground and surfaces.

video

Technology and the self

In the town once named Asbestos, locals ponder the voids industry left in its wake

16 minutes

Illustration of a person sitting in a room with a bed and various objects. The background is pink, and the objects include a lamp, books, clock, plants, lava lamp, slippers, and a small ball. The person appears to be drawn in a simple, sketch-like style.

video

Sex and sexuality

After a sextortion scam, Eugene conducts an unblushing survey of masturbation

14 minutes

Close-up of a woman with blonde hair and a nose ring. She has a serious expression. The background is a foggy landscape with soft pink and grey tones.

video

Technology and the self

A deepfake porn victim confronts the pain of having her likeness stolen and vandalised

19 minutes

Illustration of a person and a cat doing yoga in front of a fireplace, with floating planets and stars around them, a vase, a calendar, and a smartphone nearby.

essay

Consciousness and altered states

A reader’s guide to microdosing

How to use small doses of psychedelics to lift your mood, enhance your focus, and fire your creativity

Tunde Aideyan

A man wearing a hat and red shirt is chopping a log with an axe, with wood chips flying around, next to a tent under a blue sky with clouds.

video

Work

Does capitalism make ‘non-playable characters’ of us all? An uncanny exploration

21 minutes

A photo collage with stone buildings, a wooden door, a metal gate, and residential structures with plants in the background.

video

Technology and the self

A ‘virtual outing’ on Google Maps reveals a treasured image from Diego’s past

6 minutes

A woman is sitting at a table holding a knife at a chopping board, but her head is switch with the green onion she is cutting. Yellow blinds and a lamp are in the background.

video

Technology and the self

An artist swaps her head with everyday objects in a musing on consumerism

4 minutes

Blended images of a historical figure in traditional attire and two women with on-screen text: “POV you in September…” and “Bestie… manifesting will come in 30 minutes.”

essay

Subcultures

Of memes and magick

Bending a mysterious world to your will was the goal of esoteric practices. Now it’s the unashamed aim of the tech titans

Tara Isabella Burton

A 3D model of a room in progress, with a floating person, computer setup, scattered items, bed, pictures on the wall, and a plant by the window.

video

Computing and artificial intelligence

Struggling to learn how to do a backflip, Nikita takes on an unusual training regimen

12 minutes

People walking on stairs inside a modern industrial building, with someone standing below checking their phone; entrance to Lisson Gallery visible in the background.

essay

Film and visual culture

The truth of photographs

It’s often said that a successful picture ‘captures the essence’ of a subject. But a great photograph does so much more

Daniel Star

video

Technology and the self

Why we should worry less about ‘sentient’ AIs and more about what we’re teaching them

16 minutes

Two people standing barefoot on grass. Only their lower bodies are visible, with hills and trees in the background.

video

Technology and the self

Greetings from Green Bank – the small town where modern technology is banned

10 minutes

Black-and-white photo of people of various ages, including children, look intently through a shop window displaying several vintage TVs with antennas.

video

History of technology

The long-awaited arrival of TV to Shetland sparks debate in this vintage clip

9 minutes

Large poster with Hindu deity and male portraits being carried by two people in a street. Text is in Hindi. Bicycle and table in the background.

video

Politics and government

‘Without a poster, you don’t exist!’ – on the curious political banners of Mumbai

20 minutes

Medieval manuscript illustration of a person writing in a book, surrounded by a golden and decorative frame with text on the right side.

essay

History of technology

We’ve always been distracted

Worried that technology is ‘breaking your brain’? Fears about attention spans and focus are as old as writing itself

Joe Stadolnik